The incredibly open nature of the Apple II for development, down to the inclusion of schematics in every box, encouraged a generation of users who were also programmers. By contrast, today we have the walled garden of iPhone OS, where Apple judges all. Between these polar positions is the Macintosh. How have Apple – and Apple users – evolved over the years? Has using computers become more or less creative? What tradeoffs have we made between accessibility and empowerment? How do the Apple II and its users measure up in modern times? Panelists: Ivan Drucker (IvanExpert), Martin Haye (California Digital Library), Mike Maginnis (The Computist Project). Moderator: Ken Gagne (Juiced.GS).

This video was produced by Steve Disbrow of EGO Systems. It has been digitized by Ken Gagne and Eric Shepherd and is published here with permission of the original copyright holder. Recorded in 1995 by Steve Disbrow.

The Apple II was a fantastic gaming machine. You may not have daily access to this vintage hardware, but many of its best entertainment titles have been remade for the Macintosh. Ken Gagne revisits classics like Arkanoid, Ultima, and Dark Castle in this session that showcases the best of new and old. Find links to the games and YouTube videos shown here at http://wp.me/pBeOH-1x

Thanks to the Internet and social media, cultural artifacts can be disseminated in a distributed fashion faster than ever before. When something attains phenomenon status via viral means, it becomes a meme. But, just like a real virus, memes can quickly die off. What’s everyone talking about today that will be gone tomorrow? Ken Gagne demonstrates what a double rainbow means and who your man could smell like. Find these YouTube videos at http://www.showbits.net/2010/08/18/know-your-meme/

HackFest is an annual programming competition in which KansasFest attendees are challenged to write the coolest program possible for the Apple II while at KansasFest. Contestants Peter Neubauer, Martin Haye, Scott Miller, and Jeff Blakeney present their entries before Ivan Drucker announces the winners, as determined by Drucker, Ken Gagne, and Sean Fahey.

Martin Haye’s NakedOS is a new Disk II operating system for the entire Apple II line of computers. In this session, its creator covers the project’s rationale, design goals, API, disk format, Super-Mon integration and finally a few decision points and caveats for programmers considering NakedOS for their projects. Find it online at bitbucket.org/martin.haye/super-mon/

Martin Haye’s Super-Mon is a set of fancy extensions to the Apple II system monitor. This fairly technical session follows the creation of a small but interesting assembly language program that demonstrates the concepts and capabilities of Super-Mon.

Through custom coding and modification, Melissa Barron has modified the classic Oregon Trail to use in-game text that’s a blend of l337, chatspeak, and LOLcats syntax. Learn about the process of hacking this game and see it in action on an Apple IIc. Learn more at http://melissabarron.net/ or see her similar presentation at Notacon 7 at http://notaconmedia.com/2010media.shtml#schedule